Moore requests federal aid for oyster industry shaken by storm, Potomac River sewage spill

For someone who has been oystering in Maryland since the 1960s, Robert Brown, 75, said he hasn’t seen it get quite as bad as it is now.

Icy conditions in the Chesapeake Bay following a major winter storm and the perception of the quality of Maryland seafood after the Potomac Interceptor sewage spill have been detrimental to watermen like Brown and stand to do further damage without federal assistance, Gov. Wes Moore wrote in a letter Friday.

In a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Moore pleaded that public perception of eating shellfish has worsened due to misinformation surrounding the depth of the spill’s impact and warned of long-lasting economic downfall of Maryland’s watermen without an evaluation and federal disaster declaration.

“The compound effects have the potential to devastate our watermen’s economy,” Moore said in the letter. “In-person and online, the ‘unsafe’ bell has been rung and the impact to Maryland seafood and aquaculture and associated buying behavior may be long lasting.”

Brown estimates he lost 40% to 50% in sales this season. He has heard people not wanting to buy from him and other Maryland oystermen because of the spill — even though the majority of the oystering boats are about 100 miles from where the spill happened, Brown said.

“Where the spill came was almost like a stream to what the rest of the river is,” Brown said.

A section of the Potomac Interceptor sewage line, which runs through Montgomery County, collapsed Jan. 19, spilling an estimated 250 million gallons of untreated wastewater and “catastrophic” levels of pollutants into the Potomac River. DC Water, the utility service that owns the Potomac Interceptor sewage line and serves the capital and its suburbs, diverted the sewage flow into the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal within five days of the spill. Officials say the water is clean now.

President Donald Trump approved federal disaster assistance related to the spill for Washington on Saturday despite blaming the incident on local Democratic leadership’s mismanagement. In a post on his media site, Truth Social, he specifically named Moore.

The Potomac Interceptor sewage spill is one of many issues Maryland’s governor and the president have been at odds over. Still, members of Maryland’s congressional delegation, including U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, an Eastern Shore Republican and Trump ally, support federal assistance for the state’s oyster industry.

Members of the congressional delegation released a joint statement urging the secretary of commerce to adhere to Moore’s request. Harris told reporters this week he is optimistic the disaster request will be approved.

“I think, given the convergence of competition, the ice, all the problems the oyster industry has this year, I think it’ll qualify,” he said.

The Banner’s Pamela Wood contributed to this article.